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By Clean Plate
A delicious combination of oats, yoghurt, apple and cinnamon, our CP Bircher Muesli is a refreshing and healthy snack, perfect for the hot Summer months and as an alternative to porridge or cereals!
Bircher Muesli originated in Switzerland around the 1900s, but nowadays, it has gained in popularity and is eaten across the world. Much like the dried muesli version most of us are familiar with, there are numerous variations of the original.
Traditionally, bircher muesli is made by soaking oats overnight in a combination of one or more ingredients such as milk, yoghurt or fruit juice. It is then mixed with chopped nuts and grated apple, and sweetened with a little honey or a similar natural sweetener. Quick and rolled oats speed up this process, meaning they only need to soak for as little as 1 to 2 hours. However, if you'd rather make it the day before and have the space to store it in the fridge, go ahead and you'll have morning tea ready when you arrive. Because most early learning centres in New Zealand opt to be nut-free, we make our CP Bircher Muesli with no nuts, but if that's not a concern for you, feel free to add your favourite nut or a combination. We love the taste of roasted almonds with ours. We also keep it honey free, if serving for children under 1, as honey may contain the spores that may lead to botulism, and is not recommended for children under 1 year. If you'd like to use honey, you could always make a separate batch for under and over 1s, clearly labeling each one. However, we find it sweet enough as is, especially if serving with sliced or mashed bananas, mangoes, or other fruits which are naturally sweeter, ripe and in season. Yum!
Method:
1. Place oats, sultanas and orange juice in a large, non-metallic bowl. Stir and leave soaking while preparing the other ingredients. 2. In another bowl, mix the milk, yoghurt, cinnamon and honey (if using), until well combined. Add to the oats and mix. 3. Add the grated apple to the muesli and stir to combine. 4. Cover the bowl and let it stand for at least 1 hour, up to overnight. 4. Serve the bircher muesli with fresh fruit. *Omit the honey or maple syrup if serving the bircher muesli to children under 1 year-old.
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by Clean Plate
Kinetic sand can be purchased from just about any toy or $2 shops. But to get quantities that are usable for a large group of children, I would suggest making your own. You do need to prepare it ahead of time, but involving the children in the process as well can be a great way to get in some extra mixing and measuring practice!
To ease clean-up, play with the kinetic sand over grass, in the sandpit or over any other barked outdoor area. However, if you want to save the sand to use again, it is fairly easy to sweep up after the children are finished. Kinetic sand can be a fun indoor activity as well, in place of playdough, as it is equally easy to pack away. If using with under 2s, make sure they will not eat it - it will not poison them, but the soap can hurt their little tummies!
Give it a go, you won't be sorry!!
by Clean Plate
I made these on a small scale in a large bowl, but they can easily be made in the water trough as well. Simply add dish soap to your water - to make giant, fluffy bubbles that last, add quite a generous amount - about 10 big squirts. I then used my mixer to speed the bubble creation process (the children loved this part!), but if you don't have one handy,s imply offer a range of buckets, whisks and mixing spoons and get those kids agitating! The more they mix, the more bubbles will form. If the bubbles disappear after a while, simply begin agitating the water again and more will form, no extra soap needed!
If you'd prefer not to use dish soap, any kind of bubble bath would work equally well, and may be more gentle on the children's skin. Cleanup for this is easy, the bubbles will simply melt away after some time and the water trough will just need to be rinsed thoroughly.
Go ahead, give it a go and get some of the messy play mojo! ;)
by Clean Plate
As a teacher, especially of young children, it can be hard to maintain your 'mojo'. So much is expected of you and with so little time, it is so easy to get bogged down and forget why we ever chose this profession in the first place, but I am here to remind you that you chose it because you love it! You love watching those little minds work, you love seeing how they can take three sticks and some sand and use them in a completely novel way, you love the growth you can see each and every day, the new words, new movements, new ideas and ways of expressing themselves that these children continuously surprise us with!
For me, when I feel myself loosing my 'mojo', I fall back on my trusty friend messy play. I love messy play for so many reasons:
,Although messy play, in most cases, is completely open ended, I have found the children quite often mimic cooking when engaged in messy play. Therefore, I often offer cups, spoons, scoops, colanders, containers of all shapes, pots, pans and mixing utensils when providing messy play to the children. This can be a great way to encourage practicing cooking skills and vocabulary without having to always offer cooking activities.
Over the next few weeks I will be posting some ideas and recipes for messy play, along with suggestions for keeping it from getting TOO messy ;). For those of you who are already into messy play, hopefully you can find some helpful ideas and suggestions, and for those of you who feel a bit to overwhelmed and bogged down by it all, give messy play a try! The children will love it and you will love watching where they decide to take you!
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